page_title: Porto Alegre
section_title: Politics, government and citizenship
hierarchical_section_title: Porto Alegre / Politics, government and citizenship
caption_attribution_description: Português: Prefeitura Velha, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
context_page_description: Porto Alegre is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Founded in 1769 by Manuel Sepúlveda, its population of 1,481,019 inhabitants makes it the tweltfh most populous city in the country and the centre of Brazil's fifth largest metropolitan area, with 4,405,760 inhabitants. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian state.
  Porto Alegre was founded in 1769 by Manuel Jorge Gomes de Sepúlveda, who used the pseudonym José Marcelino de Figueiredo to hide his identity; but the official date is 1772 with the act signed by immigrants from the Azores, Portugal. The vast majority of the population is of European descent.
  The city lies on the eastern bank of the Guaíba Lake, where five rivers converge to form the Lagoa dos Patos, a giant freshwater lagoon navigable by even the largest of ships. This five-river junction has become an important alluvial port as well as a chief industrial and commercial center of Brazil.
  In recent years, Porto Alegre hosted the World Social Forum, an initiative of several non-government organizations. The city became famous for being the first city that implemented participatory budgeting.
context_section_description: The executive branch is represented is by the municipality, its departments and other public administration bodies directly and indirectly. The legislature is represented by the City Council.
  It hosted the first three editions of the World Social Forum in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The third edition attracted 20,763 delegates from 130 countries, with a total audience of 100,000 people from all parts of the world.
caption: Porto Alegre City Hall
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